SAO: The Fire Dragons
by Psyto
Summary: My name is Psyto, and today was the opening day of sword art online. I logged on to try out the game after hearing so much about it from other people, but when Kayaba announces what's relly gonna happen to it, it gets serious. Join my friend Kaito and I as we try to survive the Death Game known as SWORD ART ONLINE...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1- Link Start!

I opened my eyes and looked around the area. New players were spawning in the Town of Beginnings every half second, so I booked it to the market to check out the stock. They had different varieties of shops like jewelery, clothing, and knives or daggers. As I walked by the clothing store, I stopped in front of a mirror and gazed upon my avatar.

I was literally a different person on the outside. Besides my face I was wearing a black shirt underneath my leather chestplate with blue jeans and a sword strapped to my back. I knew it was starter gear, but to me I looked like a man on a mission.

"Hey Psyto! "

I turned around to see a player running up to me with excitement. He was wearing a ripped up scarf around his neck that reminded me of...

"Is that you Kaito? "I asked the avatar.

My best friend smiled and said, "Did you really think you can play VRMMO's without me? " He tightened his scarf and asked, "Doesn't this scarf look like mine from the real world Psyto? "

"At least I'll know which one is you Kaito, "I said opening my menu. I went to my party tab and clicked on Kaito's name to invite him to the fold.

"You ready to do this? "he asked accepting my request.

"You know it. "I said as we turned around and ran to the north gate. As we passed different buildings my inner gamer was having a heart attack. The graphics on each piece of virtual land was just the most incredible thing I've layed eyes on. We exited the Town of Beginnings and ran into the fields.

Then the monsters came.

Someone must have ran through here before us, because they were respawning as we ran by. I turned around to the boar that spawned behind us. "This ones mine! "I said, running at it. I pulled out my sword and activated the sword skill slash. As the boar and I charged at each other I swung my sword and cut the creature in half. The boar vanished into the air as a pile of crystal shards.

EXP: 20

COL: 15

ITEMS: 2

My heart was racing with excitement as the box floated in front of me. Then I heard Kaito's sword slash the air as he took down his boar with his sword.

"That was AWESOME! "Kaito yelled as he sheathed his sword, "Come on Psyto. Lets go get some more. "He ran up the hill with me at his heels.

 **LATER THAT DAY...**

By the end of the day Kaito and I had reached level 3, and had enough col to buy each of us a pair of iron armor. By this point we were getting tired and were heading back to the Town of Beginnings.

"You gonna pull an all nighter? "Kaito asked me.

"Well yeah. "I responded, "We always pull all nighters with video games, especially VRMMO games. "

"Even though that's true, "Kaito said with dissapointment, "its almost sunset in here, which means my family is about to leave for dinner, and I told them I would go this time. "

"Guess I'll see you tomarrow then, "I said as Kaito stopped to open his menu. I just kept walking, not waiting to get my iron armor, when suddenly-

"Where did the logout button go? "

I stopped and turned around to Kaito who was shocked. I walked back over to him and peered at his menu. Where his logout button should be their was just a blank space. "That's impossible, "I said to him while opening my menu, "It should be right- "I paused to see that mine had vanished as well.

"Maybe it's a glitch, "Kaito said, closing his menu, "New games like these will always have buga on the release day. Hopefully the GM's will fix this soon, or my parents are going to freak out. "

Out in the distance, the bell in the Town of beginnings started to ring all across floor one, then suddenly Kaito and I were surrounded in seperate crystal shard vortex's. Then when it stopped, we were in the spawn area of the town.

"Why were we teleported Psyto? "Kaito said with confusion.

"I don't know Kaito, "I responded, "but were not the only ones... Look. "

More people were teleported in just like us until all players were standing inside the spawn.

"I don't like the looks of this. "Kaito said. He was about to say something when his jaw dropped while looking up at the sky. I decided to look up and what I saw made my heart stop.

The entire virtual sky was covered in "System error" symbols from the top to the ground of aincrad. Then suddenly, red looking liquid started oozing down like jelly. As it came down to the center of the spawn, it started to take shape until a giant in a long red cloak floated in the middle of everyone.

It spreaded its arms and said in a calm voice, "Greetings players. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. Welcome to my world. "

As Kayaba kept talking, my heart was dropping with every word. According to him, the reason our logout button was gone, is because he wanted a world of his design. The only way to get back to the real world was to clear all one hundred floors of aincrad, and if our HP hits zero, we die in the game and in real life.

"If you look in your item storage, "Kayaba continued, "I left a little gift in each players storage. Go ahead and open it. "

I opened my menu and went to my item storage. I equipped what turned out to be a mirror. As I looked at my avatars reflection, I was suddenly surrounded by a familiar crystal vortex. It swirled around me for so long I lost track, then it stopped. I was still in the same spot in the spawn area. For a second I thought it was a defect, then I looked at Kaito and my eyes widened in shock. Kaito wasn't his SAO avatar anymore. The mirror had given him his real life appearence. I looked back at my mirror and saw that my face had changed. Instead of my avatars shaved white hair, I was looking at my wild unbrushed hair from the real world. Their was also my blue eyes, my face expressions ... It was me!

"This concludes the tutorial, "Kayaba said, "and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck. "When his speech was over his body turned back into the red looking jelly and went back up into the sky. Then the sky cleared of all "System error" signs.

I started to process all Kayaba said. He never actually told us why he would do this to us, but he did it anyway. Then questions atarted forming in my brain, _How long will we be stuck here_? _How will taken down bosses be like now_? More questions were forming, but I had to keep my cool. If this is what Kayaba wants, then we'll need to prove to him that we can't stay here for his amusement.

Kaito grabbed my shoulder, "Hey Psyto, "he said in his calm voice, "Lets go get some food and get that iron armor we been wanting. "I guess he was keeping calm about the situation to.

My stomach growled at me, "Lets get food first, "I told him, "Then we need to come up with a plan of action. "As we jogged to a nearby food shop, I thought about how the fighting that was fun would now be a tool to survive the now Death game.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Moving On

A week had already passed since Kayaba's speech, and so far a good handful of players had died either out in the field or committed suicide. Kaito and I decided to stay at the Town of Beginnings to grind levels and col. Since the boars and wolves didn't give that much exp, we both only made it to level 18. We did get some new sword skills from it though, and that was why Kaito and I spent our entire day in the field trying our new skills.

After killing another boar with my new skill Charge, I turned to Kaito who was standing next to me. "Listen Kaito. "I started, "I think we need to leave the Town of Beginnings. Even though we've taken refuge there, it won't help us get closer to leaving this cursed game. "

"I was thinking the same thing, "he said sheathing his blade, "If we can get to the next town and do some quest there, then we'll be ready to take on the boss soon. "

"Dude, "I said rolling my eyes, "Didn't you hear the news a few days ago? No one can find the Boss room. Not even the Ex Beta Testers can find its location. "

Kaito started walking back to town and I followed, "Lets head back to the inn and get ready to go. "

Together we ran back to the Town of Beginnings, which was still full of players from opening day. People were scared to death of Kayaba, and since he gave his death threat, people barely leave the town of Beginnings anymore to level up and get stronger. Kaito and I only stayed because we needed time to process what could possibly happen to us now that we are stuck here. I thought to myself, Wonder where Kayaba is? Is he watching us, or has he left us to die?

"Hey Psyto? "Kaito said snapping his fingers, "Why did you stop? "

I brought myself back to virtual reality, "Sorry I was just thinking. "I explained, "Come on. Let's get back to the inn. "

We ran back through the gate and someone bumped shoulders with me. I stopped to see a cloaked figure running out of the Safe zone towards the fields. Probably just leveling up like us, I thought to myself. Something about that player though was off, but I couldn't think about it at the moment since Kaito was leaving me in the dust. I turned around and ran to catch up to him.

I caught up to him as he stood at the market. He was looking at the stand where he bought his scarf and was in the store menu. As I waited to see what he was doing, a trade menu popped up in front of me, and it read…

TRADE

Red Horsemen Jacket

I looked up at Kaito who was smiling. He gestured me to equip it, so I accept the trade and opened my menu. I went to my equipment and touched the Jacket icon. Instantly, the jacket appeared on my body, it even went under the belt that keeps my sword on my back. The Jacket was solid red with two darker lines on the left shoulder. The collar of the jacket went around my neck except for the front, which was in the shape of a blocky V. "Thanks Kaito. "I said before holding up my fist.

"It suits you better than just the armor man. "Kaito said, bringing his fist in for collision. They both smiled at each other and returned to running to the inn.

THE NEXT DAY...

I stood at the gate waiting on Kaito to sell the items that would slow us down. We needed to travel light if we're to get to the next town. I examined my new article of clothing that Kaito gave me. The jacket gave me +15 armor and sent my speed skill up by 3. It was probably the only thing that made me looked cool.

Kaito came around the corner, "Hey Psyto, "he said as he stopped in front of me, "I'm done selling the items, but I bought some food for the road just in case we get hungry. "

"Alright then lets get going. "I said with a smile, and together we ran out of the Town of Beginnings to begin our game clearing adventure.

Within about four hours we were halfway there, so we stopped at part of the path with giant rocks on each side. We sat against the rocks and ate some bread while talking about stuff that we heard from people passing by.

"So their's been rumors of a mini boss in this part of floor one. "I said to Kaito while munching on my piece of bread.

"Plus news about a cloak figure running around floor one stealing kills and disappearing afterwards. "Kaito added to my sentence, "Should we investigate or should we keep going to the town? "

"We need to keep going. "I said after finishing my bread, "It should be nightfall by the time we get there so we should definently- "

My words were cut off by a scream echoing in the distance. Kaito and I jumped up and nodded at each other. We ran at full speed towards the player screaming, only to find something even more terrifying. The mini boss stood in front of a cloaked player whose HP was in the red zone. Kaito was shocked to see that the player was wielding a two handed crimson sword, but I was shocked to see that the mini boss was a giant wolve.

As it went to take a bite at the player, the player jumped out of the way to only get pulled back by the wolves teeth sinking into the cloak. The durability of the cloak hit zero and disentigrated into shards, revealing the player beneath it. Our eyes widened when we saw that it was a girl.

She wore Iron armor on her chest along with blue robes on top of her armor. She looked she knew what she was doing, but even from the distance we were at, I could see that her eyes were filled with fear. That was also considering the fact she was about to die.

"LETS GO! "Kaito yelled, and we charged the giant wolve with our weapons drawn.

The girl heard Kaito and jumped out of the way so we could take it on. I used my sword skill Charge and stabbed at the wolves head, causing it to stagger back. As the boss tried to regain balance, Kaito swung his sword and put a gash across its neck. The wolve's HP hit the red zone and was so close to dying, but then it got its footing back. It lunged out at Kaito and the wolves claws grazed his chest. He was shot back by the attack, and his HP went into the yellow zone.

"SWITCH! "Kaito yelled as he hit the ground. I ran at full speed towards the boss and activated my sword skill. As the wolve swung at me I jumped up and pointed my sword at its head...

The boss desintegrated into crystal shards, leaving nothing but exp and alot of col. I turned around and saw that the girl we saved was sitting next to Kaito drinking some health potions. I walked over to them and sat down to. "You okay miss- "

"Elma, "she said in a calm voice, "just call me Elma. Thanks for helping me out. "

"No problem. "Kaito said, finishing his health potion, "We can't just sit around while people are getting killed. We think that the more people that are alive, the quicker it should be to get out of here. "

"That is actually a good reason. "Elma said, "but why would you help me? "

As soon as she asked that question, I thought I saw Kaito get nervous. "We can't just leave you to die. "I told her, "You know how to fight, and that's a key to surviving. If you were to die, it would be a waste of your skills. "

"How do you know what to say to people? "Elma asked while opening her menu.

"Well' "Kaito started, "When we were close to becoming teenagers, we took kendo classes together. Our instructor taught us on how to speak to our enemies with a hint of truth and they will calm down. "

"You guys seem to be calm about all this, "she said, "and you fight well for kendo students- "

"Hey- "

"Mind if I party up with you guys? "

Kaito and I exchanged looks before he nodded at me. I looked at Elma opened my menu. I went to my party icon and sent an invite to her. She accepted it with a smile on her face, "So where are you heading? "she asked us.

"Were heading to the next town. "I told her, "We are planning to do some quest their to level up for the day the boss is found. "

"That was what my plan was until the mini boss got agroed on me, "she said as we all got up.

" Well lets get going, "Kaito said, and together we got on the path and went to the second town.

LATER THAT DAY...

We sat in our room at the inn thinking of what to do next. The first quest in this town was already taken, which dissapointed us. Now we wouldn't get the special quest item, and just get the less good ones.

As we sat their, Kaito made the suggestion to start back up our leveling schedule again, and we all agreed to it. Kaito and Elma took different beds while I took the couch. It didn't take me long to fall asleep after thinking what will happen now.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3- Boss Fight Part 1

 **TWO MONTHS LATER...**

After two months, about two thousand players have died so far. No one has found the floor one boss yet, which means we are still stuck on floor one.

Since the two months on floor one, Kaito, Elma, and I invited a new person to our party. He looked about my height, with blue hair and he wore tougher leather armor with shoulder pads. He wouldn't tell us his IRL name, but in SAO he went by Diabel. His appearence tells you he likes roleplaying, since he claims he chose knight for SAO, but the rest of us think he played a MMORPG game before this. Since he joined our party, he told us about the tower and how we can use it for mob grinding, and that's what we're doing today.

When I finished taking down my monster the result window popped up:

 **EXP: 56**

 **COL: 78**

 **ITEMS: 2**

The first time I saw this pop up it gave me joy, but now it just makes me smile. It would always remind me that I'm getting closer to getting out of here. These monsters that Diabel says are called Kolbolt soldiers provide alot of xp, and the meat we get from them can be sold for a higher amount of col. Diabel had picked the best mob grinding sopt ever!

"Hey Psyto! "somebody yelled. I turned around to see Kaito and Elma had already crossed the gap filled with Kolbolt soldiers. I was to busy with my kill that I forgot we were crossing, but I just smiled and booked it. I ran at full speed through the gap, slashing at the Kolbolts as I went. About three result windows popped up before I had reached the other side.

"Why didn't you tell me you had made it over already? "I asked them.

Elma rolled her eyes, "You were thinking again. "she said.

She was right. For the past two months their would be times where I would stop in my tracks and get stuck in thoughts. One time I almost died to a Kolbolt soldier just by thinking for too long. "Well whats the matter? "I asked them.

Kaito pointed down the corridor we were standing in. In the distance I could see Diabel standing in front of a pair of giant doors. My eyes widened as we all realized-

"It's the boss room. "Kaito said with a smirk.

We walked over and stood next to Diabel. "You okay Diabel? "I asked him.

Diabel looked at me with joy. "We can make it! "he said before breaking into his happy dance. We all looked up at the doors and I started thinking.

"Hey guys. "I started, "Since we found the boss room and were stuck in SAO, we'll need more than just the four of us to take down the boss. "

"That is true. "Diabel said, stopping his dance to say something, "I say tommorrow we will hold a meeting at that tiny little coliseum in town. I'll tell everyone and you guys can spread the word then take a break. "

We all agreed and decided to stop leveling up for the day. We obviously had a rough time getting out of the tower, since the respawn system in SAO was unfair. When we got out we started jogging back to town.

 **THE NEXT DAY...**

Kaito and Elma decided to join Diabel at the meeting while I went to the store to sell my Kolbolt Meat. That kind of meat is the only thing that would be sold for a high price of col. As I entered the shop I noticed that they had a selection of iron bars open to buy. That was great for me, because I have survived the whole two months with just the starter sword. I opened the shop menu and sold all twelve of the meat, which gave me 468 col to add to my collection. I then went to buy and bought a couple of iron bars. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around to see a boy standing in front of me. He wore a blue shirt with iron armor on top, and he looked about my height with blackish eyes and short black hair. His sword looked like one you could find off a boss, so I'm guessing he tooked down a mini boss out in the field.

"Mind if I enter the store real quick? "he asked me.

"Sure. "I answered moving out of the way. He opened the shop menu and I saw him buy about twenty five health potions. "I'm guessing you went to Diabel's meeting? "

"Yeah I did. "the boy said, "He told everyone their that we were to break up into parties of six and he will form a strategy to taking the boss down. " He closed his menu and started to walk out, and then he stopped and turned back to me. "Sorry. "he extended his hand out to me and said, "My name's Kirito, level 29. "

I reached out and shook his hand. "My name is Psyto, level 28, and can I ask you something? "

"yeah go ahead. "Kirito said.

"Would you mind showing me how to craft a sword at the blacksmith? "I asked him.

His expression told me that he was thinking about it, and then he said, "Well, I don't have a blacksmith skill active, but I have a friend that could help. He is planning to be a blacksmith and a weapon merchant. So I'll see if he can help you. "

" Thanks Kirito. "I said to him politely, "Well I guess my party will see you at the boss fight then. " He walked out and I started thinking, _Even though he is strange, he doesn't look like he has fear in his eyes_. When I was done thinking, I walked out and headed for the Blacksmith.

 **LATER...**

Kaito, Elma, and I were sitting in our room at the inn. I was telling them about a guy named Agil that helped me make my new sword. They were examining it when someone started knocking at our door. Kaito opened the door to see Diabel and Agil standing their. Agil was wearing regular clothing that can count as sleep wear, but Diabel was still wearing his armor and fighting clothes.

"Hey Psyto, "Agil said walking in, "You like the new sword? "

I smiled and said, "Yeah its great. Thanks for helping me with that Agil. "

"Your welcome. "he said sitting down on the couch opposite of Kaito and Elma.

Diabel sat next to me and started, "Alright guys, here is how tommorrow is gonna go down. Based on all the people at the meeting, we will have groups labeled A to F. Since you guys are in a party with me, you'll be squad A, which means you will be up front fighting the boss. "

I looked at him with shock as he continued, "The rules of the fight are easy. When we defeat the boss, any xp or col will be shared equally to all the players in the fight. Then whoever gets an item gets to keep it. Although you will get a rare item if you get the last attack bonus. "

"Diabel, "Elma said, "Do you think someone might die during this? "Fear started to get in her eyes when-

"No one is gonna die, "Kaito said to her, "We'll make sure of that. "

She smiled and I could swear her face just blushed. "Thanks. "she said back.

"Why are you here Agil? "I asked the battleaxe wielder.

"Diabel mentioned you four were in a party together, "he said, "so I'm here to see maybe if I can join the party. "

My eyes lit up. That would make us a party of five. "Of course, "I said opening my menu, "The more the merrier. "

After he accepted the invite, Diabel said, "Now we just need to find one more person, and that will give us six members. Does anyone know where we can find one more player? "

Three strong thinking minutes later, Elma spoke up, "Actually, I've recently became friends with a girl who is level 22. I can talk to her and see if she'll join us? "

"Great, "Diabel said, clapping his hands, "well, I'm off to my room. "

"Yeah me to, "Agil said getting up with Diabel, "Catch you guys tommorrow. "

"Good night, "We said in unison.

 **THE NEXT DAY...**

Before we went to town square, we decided to head over to the shop to buy some health potions. We walk through the door and see Kirito buying more stuff. "Hey Kirito, "I said, "How are you doing? "

"I could ask the same thing. "he said, "Who are your friends? "

I gestured my hand toward them both, "The strong one is Kaito, and the lady is Elma. Agil and Diabel are at town square waiting on us. Were just here to pick up some things. "

"I guess I'll head their now. "Kirito said, walking to the door, "I'll see you their Psyto. "

When he left, Kaito asked, "Who was that Psyto? "

"His name is Kirito. "I answered, "I met him in here yesterday while you were at the meeting. "

"He seems like a nice guy, "Elma said, "but something is off about him. Like he's keeping a secret from other players. "

As Kaito and Elma talked about the mysterious Kirito, I went into the store and bought some potions. When I was finished, we left and walked to town square.

The town square was filled with people armed to the teeth with armor and gear. Their were so many people that I couldn't count. In the crowd, however, I could see Kirito, Agil, Diabel, and our sixth member standing and talking.

Our newest party member was a girl named Soaha, she had been working hard to level up, and her result was getting to level 22. She was about Elma's age, wearing a black warriors robe, along with iron armor underneath, and her weapon of choice was a one handed sword crafted from the blacksmith. She was usually shy until she met Elma, and now she talks more thanks to our party invite.

When Diabel noticed us, he addressed the crowd of warriors, "Alright everyone. "he said as the crowd saw him gesturing them to calm down, "Get together with your party members and form a line. Today we clear floor one and get to floor two. Today we show everyone that we are better than what Kayaba thinks. Are you with me?! "

"YES SIR! "

"FOLLOW ME! "With that, Diabel turned around and started at a run. With the six of us in the lead, the now started assault team began their journey that they will never be able to walk away from.


End file.
